Words and pictures Rhona Murphy.
When you arrive at a venue over an hour before doors and the queue is already snaking down the road, you know something special is about to happen (3/9/25).
When Reading’s Only The Poets (OTP) announced a small number of intimate show dates entitled ‘Going Back To Where It Began’ including two shows on the same day at The Joiners in Southampton, it was inevitably going to be a busy evening with the hoards of eager (mostly but not exclusively) teenagers in OTP tee shirts clutching posters for signatures once they were in this iconic venue.
OTP came on stage to rapturous applause and launched straight into their 2024 single ‘Miserable’. Every word was sung back to the band and lead singer Tommy Longhurst greeted the crowd and explained why playing these intimate gigs is so important to the band and what they believe in. This is a band that’s played many large stages and festivals and supported artists such as Louis Tomlinson and Lewis Capaldi. They are also due to support The Wombats is the US this autumn but it’s clear they haven’t lost touch with the fans who have supported them from the beginning.
The band ripped through a setlist including the 4 singles already released from the upcoming debut album ‘And I’d Do It Again’ and the brand new single ‘Sakè’, which came out at 8pm at this gig, with a bit of a countdown to go with it.
This was a class show from polished performers and the intimacy of playing at The Joiners clearly touched the band. They constantly thanked the fans and invited everyone along to their headline show at the iconic 02 Academy Brixton announced this week, with all tickets priced at £1. This was the price of tickets for OTP’s first ever shows and the band are keen to give back to the fans. The gig will be on 2 Feb 26 and will follow the release of their debut album titled ‘And I’d Do It Again’, which is due out on 30 January 26.
Pre-sale tickets for Brixton Academy is on September 11 and general sale starts on September 12.
Setlist for The Joiners:
- Miserable
- Mindset
- Over & Over
- Gone By Now
- All This Time
- Sakè (new single out now)
- Emotionally Hungover
- Guess She’s Cool
- I Keep On Messing It Up
- One More Night
- Jump
- Emotional
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